Bipod rest for firearms



1. S; BUTLER.

BIPOD BEST FOR FIREARMS.

APPLICATION r1151) JAN. 30, I919.

Patented J1me 21, 1921-.

uummm 38 JOHN S. B'l'l'TLm, OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY, ASSIGNOR TONEWTON D. BAKER, SECRETARY OF WAR, TRUSTEE.

BIPOD REST FOR FIREARMS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 21, 1921.

Application filed January 80, 1919. Serial No. 274,075.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, JOHN S. BUTLER, captain, Ordnance Department, U. S.A., a citizen of the United States, stationed at Washington, D. C., haveinvented an Improvement in Bipod Rests for Firearms, of which thefollowing is a specification.

The invention described herein may be used .by the Government, or any ofits oificers or employees in prosecution of work for the Government, orby any other person in the United States, without payment of an royaltythereon.

This invention relates to improvements in bipod rests for fire arms andrefers more particularly to supporting rests for the forward end of amachine rifle for use when the operator is firing from a prone positionwith the butt end of the gun supported on the shoulder.

The principal object of the 1nvention 1s to provide a simple andInexpensive device of the foregoing character, having means fordetachable engagement with the barrel of the n, and which may be readilycollapsed and folded against the gunwhen not in use.

With the foregoing and other important objects in view, my inventioncompr ses the new and useful details of construction and arrangement,which will be described herein, illustrated in the annexed drawings andpointed out more specifically in the appended claims.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of a machinerifle with my bipod rest attached thereto in its folded pos1tion.

Fig. 2 is a front elevatlon of my bipod in its unfolded or operatingposition, as detached from the gun.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of my invention, also shown in the unfoldedposition.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the folded device detached from the gun barrel.

Fi 5 is a vertical section of my bipod, the view being taken on line 5-5of Fig 4.

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section of my dev ce, the view being taken online 6-6 of 2.

Referring now to the drawings, 1t w1 ll be seen that I have provided mydevice with a clam ing head 5 ada ted to receive the barrel oithe mach nri e A, a co-ac g clamp plate 6 being hinged to the head at 7 tosecurethe barrel in place. Plate 6 is provided with a pivoted bolt 8 adaptedto enter between bifurcations 9 formed on lip 10 of the head and a Wingnut 11 is provided on bolt 8 to draw the plate 6 firmly against the gunbarrel in an obvious manner.

Clamping head 5 is centrally and vertically pivoted by means of a pin 12to an inverted U-shaped traverse bracket 13, which in turn istransversely pivoted by pin 14 between a pair of up-standing ears 15provided on central bracket 16, thus allowing the central bracket toswin about pin 14. The ears of the traverse racket are provided withstops 18 formed integral therewith in position to engage the upper faceof the central bracket when the central bracket has been swung to thevertical or unfolded position shown in dotted lines in Flg. 1 and infull lines in Fig. 3.

Central bracket 16 is provided with spaced-apart transverse flanges 20between which are pivoted at 22 a pair of normally diverging legs 21.Legs 21 are preferably formed of channel material with the flangesdirected inwardly and are adapted in their open position to be swungoutward at the bottom to support the gun laterally. Stop bridges 23 areformed on the flanges 20 to engage the legs to limit the spread thereof.As a means for holding the legs in the spread position, I provide a pairof similarfolding links 25 pivoted centrally of the legs at 32, theouter ends of said links being pivoted to the legs 21 at 33. It will beseen by reference to Fig. 6 that I have provided oppositely disposedthick washers 34 and thin washers 35 about pivotingpins 33 adjacentlinks 25 to properly space the links so that they will foldsubstantially parallel between the compressed legs. Stop lugs 30 on theouter ends of links 25 prevent the links from swinging downward at theirinner ends beyond the horizontal, said lugs engaging the central sectionof the channeled legs when thelinks have been swung to such an extent.Feet are provlded on legs 21 to prevent the device from settling intosoft ground and points are provided thereon to prevent slipping.

In order to bringmy device into the folded position shown in Figs. 1 and4, theilegs 21 raised adjacent thereto. From the foregoing descrlptlonit will be and central bracket 16 are folded rearwardly about hinge pin.14. The legs are likewise drawn together about pivoting p ms 22, thelinks 25 folding upward at their nner ends. As a means for engaging thelegs in the compressed position, I provide a spring ch 36 riveted, orotherwise attached, to one o the legs 21, a lip being. provided thereonto spring into engagement with the other leg 21 when the legs arecompressed. As a means for engaging the thus folded legs in the desiredposition adjacent to and parallel with the gun barrel, I provide anentension clip 37 fixed to clip 36, the samebemg provided with springlips 38 in position to engage in an obvious manner about the. gascylinder tube 0 of the machine rifle A, when readily seen that I haverovided a simple and inexpensive bipod or machine rifles, which may bedetachably fixed to a gun barrel for use therewith, or compactl foldedand held in such folded position w en not in use.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. In combinationwith a machine rifle, a rest therefor having a clamp detachablyengageable with the rifle barrel, an inverted U- shaped traverse bracketvertically pivoted to said clamp, a transversely hinged bracket carriedby the traverse bracket, a pair of normally diverging legslongitudinally pivoted to the hinged bracket, and foldable spacing linksbetween said legs in position to normally hold the legs in a spread relation.

2. In combination with a machine rifle, a rest therefor having a clampdetachably engageable with. the rifle barrel an inverted U-shapedtraverse bracket vertlcally pivoted to said clamp, a transversely hingedbracket carried by the traverse bracket a air of normally diverging legslongitudina 1y pivoted to the hinged bracket, a pair of oppositelydisposed normalllyi alined spacin links pivoted together at t e1r inneren s and having their outer ends pivoted to the legs and the outer endsof said links having stops positioned to contact with the legsto limitdownward rotation of the links.

3. In combination with a machine rifle, a a

rest therefor having a clamp on a cable with the rifle barrel, aninverted 5-5 a d traverse bracket vertically pivoted to said clamp, atransversely hinged bracket carried by the traverse bracket, a pair ofnormally d verging legs longitudinally pivoted to the hinged bracket, aspring clip on one of said legs 'havlng a lip positioned to detachablyengage the other legs when the legs are compressed together, andfoldable spacing links between said legs in position to normally holdthe legs in a spread relation.

4. In combination with a machine rifle a rest therefor having a clampengageable with the rifle barrel, an inverted U-sha ed traverse bracketverticall pivoted to said clamp, a transversely hinge bracket carried bythe traverse bracket, a ljair of normally diverg- 1ng legs longitudina1y pivoted to the hinged bracket, a spring clip on one of said legshaving a lip positioned to detachably engage the other leg when the legsare compressed together, and a second clip carried by the legs havingllips in position to detachably engage t e gun when the compressed legsare folded upward adjacent the engage the rifle when the legs arefolded.

ad acent thereto.

A bipod, consisting of a barrel engaging member, an intermediate memberconnected thereto, a pair of flanges formed on said intermediate member,twin supporting legs mounted between said flanges, and a clip carried byone of said legs and having means to engage the other leg and a portionof the gun for securing the legs in closed position. JOHN S. BUTLER.

